China think tank says India is ‘sabotaging’ G20 for its own agenda

BEIJING: India has been trying to take advantage of its role as the host of the G20 Summit to promote its own agenda and harm China’s interests, a Chinese think tank affiliated with the country’s top spy agency said on Saturday. The harsh criticism by the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, which is under the Ministry of State Security, comes as G20 leaders began their annual two-day summit, in India’s capital New Delhi, with Chinese President Xi Jinping not attending. The think tank accused India of bringing geopolitical “private goods” onto the global stage, which it said would not only help the country to fulfill its responsibility as the host of G20 but also create further problems. India held two earlier G20 meetings in disputed territories — one in Arunachal Pradesh that China also claims, and another in Kashmir, contested by Pakistan. “In addition to causing diplomatic turmoil and public opinion turmoil, India’s actions in hosting meetings in disputed territories have also ‘stole the spotlight’, sabotaging the cooperative atmosphere of the G20 meeting and hindering the achievement of substantive results.” the think tank said in a commentary published on its Wechat account.